WILLEMSTAD (DA) — Dick Advocaat may be out as Curaçao’s national team coach, but the veteran manager has not necessarily closed the door on the bench.
Hans Kraay Jr. said on ESPN’s Goedemorgen Eredivisie that Advocaat is still not finished in coaching. “One thing Dick does not want me to say, but I’m going to say it anyway: he has not stopped. No, he has not stopped,” Kraay said.
Advocaat stepped down earlier this week as Curaçao coach because of difficult family circumstances. Fred Rutten is set to replace the experienced Dutch manager for the upcoming World Cup.
Given Advocaat’s age, a full departure from coaching could have seemed like the natural next step. Instead, Kraay’s on-air remarks suggested the 78-year-old has only ended his Curaçao role, not his career.
Advocaat has been a coach since the early 1980s and has worked across club and international football. His managerial stops have included PSV, Rangers, Zenit St. Petersburg, AZ, Feyenoord, FC Utrecht and ADO Den Haag, while also leading the Netherlands, South Korea and Russia.